Trump First Act is Against New Home Buyers

Just to prove that he is really for those wanting to buy their first home, Donald Trump has reversed an Obama administration effort to reduce the monthly cost for those new home owners.

The Trump administration has suspended a cut in fees on FHA-insured mortgages that had been set to take effect this month.

A reduction in the Federal Housing Administration’s annual mortgage insurance premium had been scheduled to take place Jan. 27. In one of the first acts of the Trump administration, the cut in premiums has been suspended indefinitely.

Ben Carson, the housing secretary nominee, had hinted at this move last week, during his confirmation hearing. He said that the Obama administration’s announcement of the premium cut had been “done on the way out the door” and that the cut would cost $5 billion next fiscal year. “That’s not chump change,” he said, “so certainly, if confirmed I’m going to work with the FHA administrator and other financial experts to really examine that policy.”

For most borrowers buying homes with down payments of less than 5 percent, the monthly mortgage insurance payments will remain $141.67 a month for a $200,000 loan. It would have fallen to $100 a month.

This action is the absolute opposite of what Trump promised if elected.

Chelsea Manning is a Traitor to the United States

I am aware that President Barack Obama wants to leave a legacy. That appears to have been the wish of every president in the past 100 years. The president has that legacy in creating the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). So why would he besmirch his legacy by commuting the prison sentence of Bradley Manning, who through a sex change operation, is now known as Chelsea Manning? I do not know the answer.

Manning was United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly three-quarters of a million classified or unclassified but sensitive military and diplomatic documents.Manning was sentenced in August 2013 to 35 years’ imprisonment, with the possibility of parole in the eighth year, and to be dishonorably discharged from the Army.

There is no doubt that Manning committed the crimes. She pleaded guilty in February 2013 to 10 of the charges. The trial on the remaining charges began on June 3, 2013, and on July 30, she was convicted of 17 of the original charges and amended versions of four others, but was acquitted of aiding the enemy. She was sentenced to serve a 35-year sentence at the maximum-security U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.

The decision — which a senior defense official told CNN was made over the objections of Secretary of Defense Ash Carter — immediately touched off a controversy in the closing days of the Obama administration.

In my opinion, comparing his crime to General James Cartwright or General David Petraeus is inappropriate. Cartwright lied to an investigator and Petraeus told some secrets to his mistress. Manning stole 750,000 documents and gave them to Wikileaks.

Not a Member of a Political Party

I am not registered as a member of any political party. Given my interest in politics it may seem an unlikely scenario. Let me tell you my reasoning.

The Republican Party historically in the 20th century was the party supporting business. They fought for lower taxes and less regulation. Who can be opposed to those objectives? Then the conservative religious groups evolved inside the G.O.P. Instead of being the business party they became the party of Evangelical Christians and other orthodox religious groups that put their religious beliefs ahead of business and the rights of non-believers. Today, thanks to Donald Trump, the G.O.P. has become the party concerned with helping the working classes of the country and the party of the extreme right wing (alt-right/neo-Nazi) hate groups. This is not a pretty picture.

Sadly the Democratic Party is no longer the party of the working class and middle class America. Extreme left wing socialists have become the driving force within the party. Senator Bernie Sanders has become a leader of this socialist perspective. America does have some socialist services but not to the level that the left wing aspires to bring to America. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and welfare for the needy are all socialist programs but I do not support government ownership of businesses that should be operated privately (car manufacturing companies, aircraft manufacturers, etc.).

Third parties have had an inconsequential impact on American politics.

I am left with selecting candidates that have said or done something that catches my attention. I voted for both Democrats and Republicans in November. Some races were left unmarked for any candidate.

Donald Trump appears to be a thin skinned man who takes every slight as a major insult to him. How will he conduct himself as president? His behavior as a candidate has not changed since he won the election. The only thing that might stop him from starting a nuclear war might be the decisions of a wiser military.

How did America get itself into such a predicament?

A Sad Decline for America

I am not happy as I did support Hillary Clinton. However I did not support her because she had anything worthwhile to offer. She was “the lesser of two evils” in my opinion. Trump won because he promised change. That was the Obama promise too. We all know how that turned out. Millions of people believed that Mrs. Clinton was just a continuation of the same gridlock that has kept the same bunch of elected people in office (and that includes Republicans and Democrats). It’s unlikely Trump will be successful but the public keeps hoping.

Charles Krauthammer in his November 11, 2016 column mostly wrote about how a Republican congress can now cancel Obamacare, end Dodd Frank consumer protection, and impose their solutions for illegal immigration. One point he made does make sense: “Trump spoke to and for a working class squeezed and ruined by rapid technological and economic transformation.” While Krauthammer was correct in that analysis his solutions make no sense.

The greater question for me is what will Donald Trump actually do as president? His history of remarks and promises is full of contradictions. Many of those contradictory statements have been played on CNN and elsewhere. A good example is in 1999, when Trump forcefully argued for universal health care, telling CNN’s Larry King, “If you can’t take care of your sick in the country, forget it, it’s all over. I mean, it’s no good. So I’m very liberal when it comes to health care. I believe in universal health care. I believe in whatever it takes to make people well and better.”

The world has changed dramatically over the last two decades. Donald Trump cannot roll back the impact of globalization. Our congress is filled with people with an average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 114th Congress of 57.0 years; of Senators, 61.0 years. These are a bunch of older people many of whom do not understand the changing world. This is not the group likely to lead this nation in a rapidly changing technology world.

Sadly, we are likely to see an America in decline. Tell me I am wrong and why.

California Secession #Calexit and #Caleavefornia

The above map shows the national results of the November 8 2016 election by county. It is obvious that the most populace parts of California voted for Hillary Clinton. 54% of the voters chose Mrs. Clinton. 30% Chose Donald Trump.

California holds significantly different views of the world from most of the United States. Immigration and the environment are the two really big differences. Donald Trump by his own words does not believe there is any climate change and he intends to deport millions of “illegal aliens.” He says immigrants will be subject to ‘extreme vetting.‘ Trump intends to end Obama Care. All of these views are diametrically opposite of those held by most Californians.

“If Trump wins,” venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar wrote, “I am announcing and funding a legitimate campaign for California to become its own nation.” That was reported in the Los Angeles Daily News.

California is approximately 38% Latino and 38% White. The rest of the state is a mix of Black, Asian, and other groups. Clearly this is not a White state.

California has more millionaires with over $1million to invest than any other state.

Compared to countries California’s economy ranks 6^th in the world.

40% of America’s imports arrive through the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach.

http://www.yescalifornia.org/ In the Spring of 2019, Californians will go to the polls in a historic vote to decide by referendum if California should exit the Union, a #Calexit vote.

You will have this historic opportunity because the Yes California Independence Campaign will qualify a citizen’s initiative for the 2018 ballot that if passed would call for a special election for Californians to vote for or against the independence of California from the United States.

Yes California is the nonviolent campaign to establish the country of California using any and all legal and constitutional means to do so. We advocate for peaceful secession from the United States by use of an independence referendum to establish a mandate, followed by a nationwide campaign to advocate in support of a constitutional exit from the Union.

This would be a VERY BIG step. It is worth thinking about.

Donald Trump and Hate

The United States democratically elects its president and the majority has spoken through the ballot box. The losers must accept the will of the majority.

I am deeply disappointed with the results. Donald Trump is the poster child for hate, misogyny, and discrimination. His election tells me more about America than about him.

I fear for the fate of minorities and the handicapped in this nation under a Trump presidency. I have personally experienced discrimination and sympathize with all who have had to live in a world of hate.

I see Adolph Hitler in the words of Donald Trump. Asians, Jews, Latinos and Muslims are the likely targets of a President Trump.

A rebellion is unlikely. A massive emigration of minorities from the United States is a possible outcome. Certainly the entry of minority peoples to America will be significantly smaller than in previous years.

My likely new home will be Canada – if they will take me.

Donald Trump: What sacrifices have you made?

Khizr Khan, whose son Army Capt. Humayun Khan died in Baghdad in 2004, delivered one of the most powerful speeches of the Democratic National Convention. With his wife Ghazala at his side, Khan repeatedly blasted Trump’s immigration proposals — specifically those aimed at barring Muslims — and said the billionaire businessman has “sacrificed nothing and no one.”

Trump to Khizr Khan: ‘I’ve made a lot of sacrifices.’

Donald Trump, in an ABC interview, said in response, “I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve had tremendous success. I think I’ve done a lot.”

Other than the 9-11 hijackers the only immigrant terrorists were the couple in San Bernardino California. All the others were born in the United States. So how would Mr. Trump monitor their behavior? Trump is going down the path of the Nazi concentration camps and America’s Japanese internment camps. Is that the path a majority of Americans want?

If that is the choice of the United States, I will not be a party to that action!

Could We be about to Inaugurate the last President of the United States?

Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton should be the two leading candidates for president of the United States. I find it appalling that both the Democrats and Republicans would select these seriously flawed people to lead the world’s most powerful nation.

Donald Trump has never held any elected office anywhere. His knowledge of the operations of the federal government is based upon what he has read or seen on television. His ideas about getting along with the rest of the world are a series of contradictions. In one breath he says that NATO is obsolete and in the next breath he talks about NATO forces being used to fight ISIS. Somehow he believes that a 35% to 45% tariff would bring jobs back to America. He says he wants to lower the national debt but he also wants to spend whatever it takes to enlarge our military, improve our educational system, and rebuild our infrastructure. All of these things, he says, will be done while lowering our income tax.

Hillary Clinton wanted to over throw Gadhafi in Libya (and we did) and now that country lacks a functioning central government. Her explanation about Benghazi is shrouded in a mist that cannot make that issue go away. She talks about being proud of her part in the Iran nuclear agreement and her solution to the Ukraine invasion by Russia. And Finally there is her use of a private email server that caused FBI Director James Comey to come very close to calling for her to be charged with a crime. Comey said, “Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” In the end, Comey, a deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush, said Clinton’s careless conduct fell short of a crime because there was no evidence of “clearly intentional and willful mishandling” of classified information and no sign of “disloyalty” or an effort to “obstruct justice.”

Am I supposed to be reassured by either of these two candidates that they can carry out the duties of president without taking the nation into a financial collapse or a war?

I am not confident that either Trump or Clinton will be a capable leader. Rather I fear that the winner of the November election could mean we will be inaugurating the last president of the United States.

Trump Killing NAFTA Could Mean Big Unintended Consequences for the U.S.

Donald Trump intends to renegotiate NAFTA. In a speech given today he laid out a seven-point plan to change U.S. ‘failed trade policies’, including withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and renegotiating NAFTA.

Following is an article that appeared on Bloomberg.com on October 1, 2015. This article points out the benefits of NAFTA.

by Eric Martin

Ending the deal would hurt American manufacturers. For consumers, backing out might mean price increases on everything from cars to fruits and vegetables.

Donald Trump has pledged to renegotiate or terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying that it’s been a disaster for the U.S.

And the billionaire front-runner for the Republican nomination isn’t the first presidential candidate to bash the deal: Since its inception (Ross Perot warned of a “giant sucking sound” pulling jobs to Mexico), Nafta has been a popular punching bag for politicians. Despite the idea’s popularity, pulling out of Nafta could have all sorts of unintended consequences for U.S. businesses and the economy.

1. America’s biggest export market would be jeopardized

U.S. goods exports to Canada and Mexico have quadrupled since Nafta took effect in 1994, rising to about $550 billion last year. That’s more than sales to China, Japan, the U.K., Germany, South Korea, Brazil, India, Russia and Hong Kong combined.

While critics have decried Nafta and other free-trade agreements for opening U.S. markets to foreign products, the deal actually lowered tariffs in Canada and Mexico even more than in the U.S. The American government applied an average tariff of just 4.3 percent to imports from Mexico and 5.1 percent to those from Canada before Nafta, while Canada had a 9.7 percent tax on imports from the U.S. and Mexico’s tax was 12.4 percent, according to a study last year led by Gary Hufbauer, an analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

A return to the tariffs pre-Nafta would mean “our exporters have more to lose in the immediate shock” than Canada and Mexico, Hufbauer said in an interview.

2. Jobs already gone wouldn’t return

As with any trade agreement, jobs were both created and destroyed after Nafta took effect as the workforce in each nation was realigned based on comparative advantage. In their search for lower costs for production chains, U.S. companies have moved jobs abroad—some to countries that have free trade with the U.S. and others to nations that don’t.

“If we didn’t have Nafta, would things like clothing and automobiles that are produced in Mexico be produced in the United States? No,” said David Gantz, who teaches trade law at the University of Arizona. “They’d be produced in China or somewhere that the labor costs are a lot lower. One needs to look at what the alternatives would be.”

3. The American economy overall would lose

Thanks to Nafta, U.S. consumers have enjoyed the benefits of cheaper imports from goods manufactured in Mexico. Scrapping the trade agreement might force Americans to stomach higher costs, from flat-screen TVs to Nissans to guacamole: Mexico is the world’s top producer of avocados.

Hufbauer estimates that Nafta trade growth makes the U.S. $127 billion richer each year, not only because of the boost to American exporters but also because of these benefits to U.S. consumers. That’s about $400 per person.

“It’s not always visible to people because much of the benefit is at the checkout counter,” Hufbauer said.

4. American drivers could pay more for gasoline

Canada and Mexico accounted for about half of U.S. oil imports in 2014, more than all the nations in OPEC combined and 84 percent of the oil the U.S. bought from outside the cartel.

While a supply glut has driven oil prices to near a six-year low, there’s no guarantee things will stay that way. Ending Nafta could make the U.S. more reliant on imports from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and other OPEC members when global demand rebounds down the road.

Nafta gives the U.S. preferential access to oil, limiting the scenarios in which Canada can restrict energy exports to the U.S. If the U.S. didn’t import oil from its Nafta partners, it could do so at higher cost from other countries, some of which aren’t as friendly to the U.S. as Mexico or Canada.